AUBURN, Ala. – The magic number for Auburn's offense is 28.
When A-Day commences Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Tigers defense will lead 27-0. The offense has four 10-minute quarters to try to catch and pass their teammates.
Freeze toyed with the idea of allowing Auburn beat reporters to determine the A-Day format, before thinking better of it. He then considered awarding points for multiple first downs and other offensive and defensive metrics. In the end, the simple answer was the correct one.
"We're putting 27-0 on the scoreboard, and let's go play," said Freeze, who plans to vary field positions. "And see what happens. See if the offense can overtake the defense at 27-0."
A scoop-and-score or pick-six could add to the defense's total. Barring that, they need to keep their teammates from reaching the end zone four times in 40 minutes.
In Auburn's run-pass option offense, which play is run often depends on how the defense aligns.
"It's hard for me to tell what the run-pass will be," Freeze said. "I don't mind throwing it. We are really thin at receiver right now. We'll see how we are come Saturday. I sure wouldn't mind throwing it around some if we can protect us.
"That's been the biggest challenge against what we're seeing defensively. Those guys are getting after us pretty good."
A-Day will feature Auburn's beloved traditions including Tiger Walk at 11:45 a.m. CT and the eagle flight at 1:56 p.m. CT.
A-Day Presented by Golden Flake starts at 1 p.m. CT with warm-up periods. The scrimmage portion is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT.
"You hope for great weather for the fans," said Freeze, outlining his A-Day expectation once the scrimmage begins. "That we would be clean in our operations.
"You hope to stay healthy and safe. You're excited about our recruits who will be here and all of our fans who may come. You don't show too much on either side."
Auburn's second-year head coach hopes A-Day will be another opportunity to add to the momentum created during spring practice.
"I've been really pleased with the energy and passion. I love the things I see from our staff and a lot of our players," Freeze said. "They're batting about a hundred on that."
Freeze plans to limit the snaps of some of Auburn's veterans, knowing their capabilities and preferring to evaluate less-seasoned Tigers.
"We want to make it a competitive day," he said. "You don't want to see flags all over the field. That would irritate me. You want to play clean and you want to execute fairly well on both sides.
"You're hoping you see some good execution from each side, a lot of competition, taking pride in competing each snap, and staying healthy.
"We're going to make the best of it and we're going to go compete. I think our kids will do that and do it passionately."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer